Department for Transport

Manchester Piccadilly Station

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made for future capacity needs of Manchester Piccadilly station in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20, (c) 2020-21 and (d) 2021-22.

Paul Maynard: The franchises have set out their plans to meet passenger needs in Manchester through the franchise period. In addition, as part of planning the next control period we are assessing the requirements for passenger capacity into Greater Manchester. This capacity can be provided by more frequent or longer trains. This process is on-going. A number of announcements will be made in the coming months which will state the outcomes desired from the rail industry in the next control period. This will be followed up later in the year with a strategy for the government’s priorities for investment in the railway.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the electrification of the line between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail are on site and will soon start to install the foundations east of Manchester Victoria in preparation for wiring.

Network Rail: Finance

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date all the derivatives owned by Network Rail are scheduled to have expired or been closed out.

Paul Maynard: The last derivative will mature on 30th September 2027.

Network Rail: Finance

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast has been made of the overall profit or loss of the derivatives held by Network Rail in the last five years.

Paul Maynard: The overall profit and loss is recorded as “Other gains and losses” in Network Rail’s Annual Report and Accounts. The following movements have been recorded: 2016 -£65m2015 -£41m2014 £304m2013 -£43m2012 -£567m

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost overruns on major projects at Network Rail have been in the last five years.

Paul Maynard: The rail regulator, Office of Rail and Road, publishes annual efficiency and finance assessments of Network Rail. These includes their assessments of Network Rail’s performance in relation to both major enhancement projects and other areas of spend. In their assessment of 2015/16 the ORR noted an ‘enhancements underperformance of £115m’.These annual assessments can be found here:- http://orr.gov.uk/rail/economic-regulation/regulation-of-network-rail/monitoring-performance/efficiency-and-finance-assessmentThis Government has been clear about the affordability and deliverability challenges faced in the current investment programme (Control Period 5 2014-2019). This is why in 2015 Sir Peter Hendy was asked to replan the programme to put it on a more sustainable footing.Following Sir Peter's review we have revised our approach to major projects. The effective governance the Department has put in place is helping to manage the programme within the fixed funding available.

Railway Signals: Digital Technology

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the programme for introducing digital signalling on the rail network.

Paul Maynard: The Department is working with Network Rail and the industry to assess the case for an accelerated roll out of digital signalling technologies, which is affordable, and targeted at areas where capacity and performance are needed most. This work includes developing options and a business case for the £450m of National Infrastructure Investment Fund allocation announced in the Autumn Statement last year.

Department for Transport: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr John Hayes: The table below reflects expenditure incurred by the Central Department over the financial years 2011/12 – 2015/16, split by the categories requested. Expenditure2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Hotels & Subsistence£1,076,328£1,196,281£1,196,334£873,395£840,278Hospitality & Catering£73,252£53,398£69,167£106,501£111,843Transport£2,351,001£2,292,028£2,695,434£2,349,957£3,107,503 Please note that the Department for Transport’s financial systems record both; hotel accommodation and subsistence, and hospitality and catering as combined categories that cannot be split further.

St Pancras Station: Immigration Controls

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the change in the amount of time taken to access the platforms at St. Pancras International station since the introduction of e-Passport gates.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of ePassport gates present at St Pancras International, or on their operation. Passports and immigration are the responsibility of the Home Office and UK Border Agency.

Garages And Petrol Stations: Prices

Victoria Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the extent of price differentials between motorway and non-motorway service stations; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: The Department does not monitor the pricing of fuel at Motorway Service Areas or on Trunk Roads. However, the Department does monitor areas of concern raised by road users in order to make improvements and Highways England are monitoring the price of fuel solely for evaluating the impact of the motorway fuel price signs trial.

Aircraft: Defibrillators

Corri Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to make the carriage of defibrillators compulsory on aeroplanes.

Mr John Hayes: The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is responsible for the regulations relating to equipment to be carried on aircraft operating in Europe and competent national authorities, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) being such a body in the UK, are responsible for oversight of the compliance. The EASA regulations do not require aircraft to carry defibrillators.

Volkswagen

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2017 to Question 68777, if he will provide the number of (a) Audis, (b) SEATs, (c) VW commercial vehicles and (d) VW private cars to which fixes had been applied by the time of the January and February meetings.

Mr John Hayes: During my meetings with representatives from Volkswagen on 16th January and 6th February, I was informed of the overall number of ‘fixes’ that had been applied to the 1.2 million affected vehicles and pressed them to ensure these were being implemented as quickly as possible for UK consumers. Officials meet with Volkswagen on a monthly basis and are provided with the detailed information requested. This is set out in the table and includes the most recent meeting on 20th March 2017.  Number of vehicles reported ‘fixed’ on:17th January 201721st February 201720th March 2017Audi142,452175,507197,521SEAT15,43825,25329,844VW commercial vehicles11,39520,83925,088VW passenger cars167,560228,991262,162

St Pancras Station: Immigration Controls

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ePassport gates are in place at St Pancras International Station; and what proportion of those gates have been fully functional for each day since their introduction.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of ePassport gates present at St Pancras International, or on their operation. Passports and immigration are the responsibility of the Home Office and UK Border Agency.

Motorcycles: Noise

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of legislation governing noise from motorcycles.

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to reduce the level of acceptable noise from motorcycles in the next 12 months.

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many prosecutions there have been for motorcycles exceeding acceptable noise levels in each of the last five years.

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with industry to better regulate noise emissions from motorcycles.

Mr John Hayes: Technical standards for noise from new motorcycles are set at an International level by both the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). These have recently been updated to better reflect real driving conditions. The European Commission is obliged to investigate ways to improve legislation further and to introduce more stringent limits by 2021. They are currently conducting research with the aim of agreeing limit values, and the UK will continue to play a key role in these negotiations through our membership of the UNECE in Geneva. The industry are fully engaged at the UNECE discussions and Department for Transport officials hold routine discussions outside of this forum. Prosecutions are a matter for the Ministry of Justice.

Motorcycles: Noise

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the penalty is for motorcycles exceeding permissible noise levels on roads.

Mr John Hayes: Regulation 54 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 as amended, requires exhausts and silencers to be maintained in good working order and not altered so as to increase noise. Regulation 97 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 provides that “no motor vehicle shall be used on a road in such a matter as to cause any excessive noise which could have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable care on the part of the driver.” It an offence under section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to use on a road a motor vehicle which does not comply with these requirements. This is punishable on summary conviction by a fine at level 3 on the standard scale for vehicles with fewer than 8 seats (including motorcycles).

Large Goods Vehicles: Fuels

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage hauliers to switch to alternatives to diesel engines.

Mr John Hayes: The Government has implemented measures to encourage the uptake of alternatively-fuelled commercial vehicles. These include increasing rewards for renewable gaseous fuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, the £11m Low Carbon Truck Trial, extending the Plug-in Van Grant to encompass heavier lorries, and a £20m Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition. We have also committed £20 million funding to enable the freight and logistics sector to trial the very latest in innovative low and zero emission vehicle technologies in their fleets.

Aircraft: Defibrillators

Corri Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many British people (a) suffered and (b) died as a result of cardiac arrests while on a plane in each of the last five years; and if he will assess the potential merits of introducing statutory proposals on ensuring the availability of defibrillators on planes after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr John Hayes: The Government does not hold specific data relating to how many British people suffered, or died, as a result of cardiac arrests on-board aircraft. However cases of sudden cardiac arrest are very rare when compared to the number of passengers carried. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is responsible for the regulations relating to equipment to be carried on aircraft operating in Europe and competent national authorities, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) being such a body in the UK, are responsible for oversight of the compliance. The EASA regulations do not require aircraft to carry defibrillators. Most UK operators, including all long-haul operators, already carry defibrillators. The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising for our aviation industry from the UK’s exit from the EU, including the implications for the continued participation in the EASA system.

Home Office

Social Media: Counter-terrorism

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent (a) meetings or (b) discussions she has had with people who understand the necessary hashtags.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Facebook on its co-operation in counter-terrorism activity.

Sarah Newton: This Government is committed to taking robust action to tackle radicalisation online, counter the poisonous ideology promoted by extremists, and remove harmful terrorist related material from the internet. We have developed strong relationships with social media and internet companies in countering terrorism and extremism online. We are working closely with these companies to ensure that harmful content is swiftly removed from their platforms, and to ensure terrorists have no safe spaces to operate online. We meet with them regularly at both Ministerial and official level.

Social Media: Counter-terrorism

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's press release of 26 March 2017, on social media companies, how she defines the term necessary hashtags.

Sarah Newton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 April 2017, UIN 69424.

UK Visas and Immigration: Staff

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of UK Visas and Immigration staff were employed to process citizenship applications in each month since January 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: ONS release annual figures on breakdown of Civil Servants across all government departments. For 2016, there were 26,540 FTE under the Home Office which is the home department of UK Visas and Immigration. Staff resources are moved between teams as the demands of the work require and have been supported from other departments with cross-working throughout 2016.

UK Visas and Immigration: Staff

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of UK Visas and Immigration staff were employed to process applications for documents certifying permanent residence status for UK-resident EEA nationals in each month since January 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: ONS release annual figures on breakdown of Civil Servants across all government departments. For 2016, there were 26,540 FTE under the Home Office which is the home department of UK Visas and Immigration. Staff resources are moved between teams as the demands of the work require and have been supported from other departments with cross-working throughout 2016.

Right of Abode: Veterans

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 28086, when the decision on whether to grant the right of abode to former British-Hong Kong servicemen is expected to be made.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We have received representations on behalf of former members of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps. These are being given full consideration.

Police

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will respond to the Reshaping policing for the public report, published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary on 25 June 2015; and if she will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Government welcomed receipt of the report from HMIC’s National Debate Advisory Group (NDAG) in which a number of recommendations were made. The Home Secretary wrote to Sir Tom Winsor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary on 24 June 2015, welcoming the report and informing him that officials would work with the NDAG and other policing partners to consider further the issues raised and recommendations contained in the report.

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Surveillance

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the merits of the use of drones for forensic imaging as a substitute for crewed police air surveillance capacity.

Brandon Lewis: This is an operational decision for the police. Decisions on provision of police crewed surveillance in England and Wales are made by the National Police Air Service (NPAS). Drone use is not currently part of their operating model. I understand there are discussions ongoing in policing about the future use of drones.

Police: Mental Health Services

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the legislative framework for police powers regarding mental health.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the viability of mental health street triage services in police forces following the end of police innovation funding; and whether she plans to provide any additional resources to facilitate the continuation and development of such services.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effects of different police forces using different approaches to dealing with people with mental health problems; and if she will make a statement.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effects on (a) police force workload, (b) police force welfare and (c) the risk to public welfare of the legal right of NHS services to refuse to treat people experiencing mental health crises where the only alternative is the use of police custody as a place of safety.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of recent progress with the Crisis Care Concordat following the withdrawal of Mind's secretarial support.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office together with their colleagues in the Department of Health have provided support mental health professionals and the police in England and Wales to enable them to work together to co-ordinate the right responses to people experiencing a mental health crisis. Between October 2013 and May 2015 the Department of Health funded Street Triage pilots in nine areas. NHS England subsequently published an evaluation into its effectiveness in November 2015. Street Triage schemes now operate in over 25 police force areas for which funding is provided by local partners for example Police and Crime Commissioners and Clinical Commissioning Groups. The Home Office has awarded £155,220 through the Police Innovation Fund to support a North Wales Police Mental Health Triage project. North Wales Police will evaluate the work following the end of the Home Office funding period on 31 March 2017. Police forces may apply for future funding for Street Triage through the Police Transformation Fund. For those arrested in England on suspicion of committing an offence and taken to police custody Liaison and Diversion schemes, commissioned by NHS England to a national model, operate in over 50% of police forces areas and will be rolled out nationally by 2020/21. These schemes aim to identify, assess and refer people with mental health and other complex needs into appropriate support and treatment and where appropriate may influence sentencing options. The Department of Health has funded an evaluation into the effectiveness of Liaison and Diversion which is due to report in 2019. Crisis Care Concordat partnerships have been established in England and Wales since 2015 and play a pivotal role in coordinating these approaches and improving mental health crisis care pathways. Whilst financial support for Mind’s secretariat has been withdrawn, we remain committed to ensuring the Crisis Care Concordat continues to progress and a national steering group is taking this forward. To assess the adequacy of the legislative framework a joint review of policing powers within the Mental Health Act 1983 was conducted by the Home Office and Department of Health during 2014. Following this review both the Home Office and Department of Health are engaged in preparations for forthcoming changes to the Mental Health Act 1983 as contained in the Policing and Crime Act 2017 and which are designed to further improve the response to those in mental health crisis.  To support these legislative provisions we have recently allocated some £15m in funding to 88 projects across 40 Crisis Care Concordat partnerships to improve places of safety provision and ensure that people in mental health crisis are not detained in police stations. A further £15m of funding has been announced to continue this work. These steps have been successful in reducing the use of cells and National Police Chiefs Council data highlighted a 54% reduction in the use of cells as places of safety from 2014/15 (4,537 occasions) - 2015/16 (2,100 occasions).

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2017 to Question 68205, what the Government's policy is on retrospective removal of the status of non-UK EEA nationals who have already automatically achieved permanent residence status by exercising their treaty rights as an EEA national in the UK for five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On 29 March, the Prime Minister formally notified the EU of the Government’s decision to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and withdraw from the EU. In future the Free Movement Directive will no longer apply and the migration of EU nationals will be subject to UK law. The notification letter makes clear that the Government wants to strike an early agreement about the rights of EU citizens who are already living in the UK, and UK citizens living in the EU, giving citizens as much certainty as possible.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Social Services: Living Wage

Claire Perry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what analysis he has undertaken on the effect of the national living wage on the cost to the adult social care sector of employing staff on sleep-in contracts.

Margot James: Workers who are required to be available to perform work as and when called upon are entitled to the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) for the entire shift if they are deemed to be “working”. This remains the case, even if they are permitted to sleep during that shift. The Government asks the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to monitor and evaluate the impact of the National Minimum and National Living Wage rates. The LPC carry out extensive research, consultation and analysis across a range of sectors to inform its wage rate recommendations. The LPC autumn 2016 report, summarises its consultation with business stakeholders on the impact of the NLW and NMW. The report is available here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-low-pay-commission-autumn-2016-report The Government also produces analysis of the NMW/NLW rates in its Impact Assessment, this projected that around 126,000 workers are affected by the April 2017 rate rises (p79). Available here - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/465/impacts

Renewable Energy: Greater London

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many accredited renewable energy generators operate in (a) Hampstead and Kilburn and (b) London in each of the last three years; and how many Renewables Levy Exemption Certifications Ofgem issued in those areas in those years.

Margot James: The information requested is set out below, based on the postcode for the installations. For Hampstead and Kilburn, we have used the postcodes of N8, NW2, NW3, NW6, NW8, NW10, W9 and W10. For the Renewables Obligation and the Feed-in Tariffs scheme, the “New” column shows new installations in the specified year. The “Total” columns show the cumulative number since the schemes started, in 2002 and 2010 respectively. Renewables ObligationNumber of installations granted accreditation2014/152015/162016/17NewTotalNewTotalNewTotalHampstead and Kilburn000000London945146046  Feed-in Tariffs SchemeNumber of operational installations2014/152015/162016/17NewTotalNewTotalNewTotalHampstead and Kilburn554756053533568London4,61622,5455,57428,1191,76929,888  Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) Number of LECs issued2014/152015/162016/17Hampstead and Kilburn840London944,803333,8540

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Margot James: The latest available information for the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy(former BIS only) is CategoryFY 2014/15FY 2015/16FY 2016/17 Apr-FebGrand TotalA) Hotel£1,150,701£1,463,207£1,055,134£3,669,042B) Hospitality / C) Food and Drink£9,726£9,859£5,805£25,390D) Transport£5,277,839£5,041,693£3,731,821£14,051,352Grand Total£6,438,266£6,514,759£4,792,760£17,745,785 (former DECC only) is CategoryFY 2014/15FY 2015/16FY 2016/17Grand TotalApr-FebA) Hotel & Accommodation£322,438£484,665£502,423£1,309,526B) Hospitality /£210,602£167,150£56,455£434,207C) CateringD) Transport£1,792,648£1,505,946£1,966,603£5,265,197Grand Total£2,325,688£2,157,761£2,525,481£7,008,930

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Overseas Workers

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of staff employed by his Department overseas in roles requiring an ability to speak a local language are at the Target Level Attainment for that language.

Boris Johnson: Holding answer received on 27 March 2017



The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has 527 roles occupied overseas where staff are required to speak the local language to at least degree level. As of February 2017, 54 per cent of staff in these roles have reached Target Level Attaintment of C1 (which equates to degree level) and have successfully passed the C1 exam. This equates to 287 officers across the network. This is an improvement of 15 per cent since December 2015.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office expects all officers to have reached a minimum level of B2 before going overseas. This is equivalent to A-level. Officers at Post who have not reached their target level are expected to continue their language training with a view to taking the C1 exam within the first year of their posting.All staff whose roles require an ability to speak the local language undergo a period of full time language training before their deployment overseas. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has recently implemented a series of measures to improve the Target Level Attainment, including measures to ensure officers complete their training before arrival at Post, as well as working with Directorates on succession planning for overseas roles which have a speaker requirement.

Russia: Guided Weapons

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the deployment by Russia of Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad constitutes a breach of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 28 March 2017.The correct answer should have been:

​The INF Treaty is a bilateral Treaty between the US and Russia, and other successor States of the Soviet Union, so it would be for those States countries in the first instance to determine any breaches. Iskander is usually regarded as a short-range rather than an intermediate-range missile. The INF Treaty plays a vital role in maintaining Euro-Atlantic security, and we urge Russia to ensure full and verifiable compliance.We and our NATO Allies monitor closely the deployment of Russian military assets to Kaliningrad. NATO has made clear that Russia should avoid all actions that could destabilise security in its neighbourhood.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The INF Treaty is a bilateral Treaty between the US and Russia, and other successor States of the Soviet Union, so it would be for those States countries in the first instance to determine any breaches. Iskander is usually regarded as a short-range rather than an intermediate-range missile. The INF Treaty plays a vital role in maintaining Euro-Atlantic security, and we urge Russia to ensure full and verifiable compliance.We and our NATO Allies monitor closely the deployment of Russian military assets to Kaliningrad. NATO has made clear that Russia should avoid all actions that could destabilise security in its neighbourhood.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Sir Alan Duncan: The FCO's expenditure is as follows:a) FCO accounts for all its hotel expenditure under Accommodation. The total expenditure is:£6,567,637 in 2012-13,£9,846,595 in 2013-14,£13,835,786 in 2014-15,£10,252,699 in 2015-16£9,409,571 for 2016-17 (1st April 2016 to 28th March 2017).b) FCO accounts for its hospitality expenditure under Representation of the FCO and Business Hospitality. The total expenditure is£9,096,057 in 2012-13,£9,010,820 in 2013-14,£8,177,552 in 2014-15,£11,398,281 in 2015-16£11,723,112 for 2016-17 (1st April 2016 to 28th March 2017).c) FCO accounts for all its Food and drink expenditure under Meals. The total expenditure is£1,349,255 in 2012-13,£1,805,092 in 2013-14,£2,367,609 in 2014-15,£2,775,632 in 2015-16£2,165,648 for 2016-17 (1st April 2016 to 28th March 2017).d) We have interpreted your request for transport as Travel. The total expenditure is£26,518,447 in 2012-13,£25,683,935 in 2013-14,£25,834,703 in 2014-15,£25,222,838 in 2015-16£21,848,618 for 2016-17 (1st April 2016 to 28th March 2017).The FCO's travel category includes expenditure on UK air travel; rail; sea ferry; car rental; taxis; children's concessionary journeys; staff travel costs to cover temporary duties overseas; Post air travel; dual work place travel; mileage; seasonal relief travel and floaters travel. These figures exclude expenditure on the FCO's staff travel package. This is an entitlement for staff posted overseas and for their qualifying dependents to travel during an overseas posting.

Iraq: Christianity

Mrs Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Iraqi Government on the importance of protecting the religious freedom of Christians in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK consistently urges the Government of Iraq at senior levels to uphold the rights of all Iraq's minorities, including Christians. We also continue to encourage political and religious leaders in Iraq to speak out publicly to condemn sectarian violence. Furthermore, we are working to build international consensus on upholding freedom of religion or belief.

Diplomatic Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 16 March 2017 to Question 63102, on diplomatic service, what the (a) name and (b) post is of each of those Ambassadors.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The information requested is personal data and as such we are unable to provide it because doing so would breach the right to confidentiality of those concerned.

French Front National

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the rationale is for the Government's longstanding policy on contact with the Front National in France; and whether he plans to review that policy in the next three months.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​It has been the longstanding policy of this and previous governments not to engage with the Front National, based on positions the party has adopted in the past. We keep this policy under review.

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 7 January 2015 to Question 4985, what funding his Department gave to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

Alok Sharma: Whilst there has been significant progress in Afghanistan on human rights since 2001, these gains are fragile and the overall human rights picture remains poor. The UK works closely with the National Unity Government, civil society and the international community to promote the development of human rights and this continues to be a priority for the UK.We provide support to the development of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) to increase their capacity. Through the FCO Strategic Programme Fund, the UK has contributed the following funding to the AIHRC:2014-15: £500,0002015-16: £519,0002016-17: (Forecast contribution) £320,000

Yemen: Military Intervention

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Saudi authorities about the attack by a helicopter on a boat carrying Somali civilians off the coast of Yemen on 16 March 2017 to establish whether the helicopter that fired on the boat was made in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has contacted Saudi Arabia regarding this tragic incident and the authorities have committed to make enquiries into the attack.

Yemen: Famine

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterparts on the potential famine in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Yemen is one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world. I regularly discuss the humanitarian situation and the risk of famine in Yemen with a wide range of interlocutors including the UN, international partners, Government of Yemen and humanitarian organisations. I most recently raised this with Saudi counterparts on Wednesday 29 March when I met with General Assiri, Advisor to the Saudi Defence Minister and Spokesman on the Saudi-led Coalition in Yemen.

Gaza: Fuel Poverty

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Palestinian authorities on fuel shortages in Gaza.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are deeply concerned by the fuel shortages in Gaza and the serious impact on the humanitarian situation, including by disrupting the delivery of basic services and undermining already vulnerable livelihoods. Addressing Gaza’s energy shortfall is critical. We are in regular discussion with the Palestinian Authority, as well as with the Government of Israel, on this topic to encourage improved coordination and an increase in energy supplies.

USA: Israel

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the US Administration on the potential move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign Secretary discussed a range of foreign policy issues, including the Middle East Peace Process, with the US administration during his visit to Washington on 21 and 22 March.

Syria: Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 18 December 2015 to Question 19719, how much has been allocated to Syria under the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in 2016-17.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Syria has been allocated £64.8million by the Conflict Stability and Security Fund for 2016-17.

Syria: Military Intervention

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his US counterpart on civilian casualties as a result of US airstrikes in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign Secretary discusses the situation in Syria and the Global Coalition's action against Daesh on a regular basis with US colleagues. He did so most recently during a visit to Washington from 21 to 22 March. As part of the Global Coalition, the UK is clear that while no military operations come without risk, the RAF takes all steps necessary to minimise the risk of causing civilian causalities.We are aware of reports of civilian casualties allegedly caused by unilateral US action against Al Qaida targets in northern Syria. We welcome the US undertaking to investigate these reports.

Somalia: Elections

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Somalian Government on the recent presidential elections in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office engaged with the Federal Government of Somalia and electoral authorities throughout the recent parliamentary and presidential electoral process, emphasising the importance of it being transparent, credible and safe; and that commitments to make the process more inclusive, including increasing female representation, were respected. The recent electoral process should be seen as a stepping stone to one person one vote elections in four years time.

Cabinet Office

Government: Databases

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the digital economy of releasing government data sets.

Chris Skidmore: Open data is already delivering enormous value across the economy and society. The UK is a world leader in open data and we have released over 41,000 non-personal datasets, powering over 400 apps and enabling transformational change in sectors as diverse as transport, agriculture and housing. The UK is committed to being the world’s most open and transparent government and the UK’s third Open Government National Action plan sets out an ambitious agenda to achieve this.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Internet

Justin Madders: To ask the Attorney General, what the five most visited websites were by staff of the Law Officers' Departments in the last year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: CPS & HMCPSI crowncourtdcs.caselines.co.ukwww.google.co.ukcivilservicelearning.civilservice.gov.ukwww.bing.comwww.bbc.co.uk SFODetails of the websites visited most often by SFO staff during the past 12 months are not held centrally. However, records are held on the SFO’s internet proxy server covering the 6 month period up to 27 March 2017www.google.co.uktfl.gov.ukwww.bbc.co.ukcivilservicelearning.civilservice.gov.ukwww.amazon.co.uk GLD Google (All Google subdomains) and related analytical sitesFacebook.comBBC.co.ukCaseline.co.ukYouTube.com  The Attorney General’s Office has recently changed IT providers and is unable to access this data.

Attorney General: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Attorney General, how much the Law Officers' Departments has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: CPS Category2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17Hotels-1,010,0801,396,9521,327,1471,483,386Hospitality-----Food and drink154,553166,225173,708181,970183,470Transport-4,161,4454,445,3464,276,9184,511,405 SFOCategory2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17*Hotels87,84480,61695,414101,582104,782Hospitality2,6481,6283,0072,6342,733Food and Drink6,2382,0903,0235071,103Transport113,964153,723231,954186,622224,170*Figures as of 28 February 2017 GLD, including AGO and HMCPSI UK Hotels£2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16GLD*6,77210,5496,40319,36326,628AGO4022,2652,210-375HMCPSI49,02341,80342,75923,64235,369 Hospitality£2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16GLD*-65717747204AGO2,89741-18-HMCPSI1236-64- Travel£2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16GLD*79,539106,161139,103252,523307,457AGO153,893123,56698,644110,462116,192HMCPSI86,67861,84172,14961,75372,175 Other related cost£2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16GLD*42,12657,90656,46458,15370,390AGO3,5363,451554918911HMCPSI20,32310,98210,81523,82816,639 This includes all expenditure on food and drink, foreign hotels and other subsistence costs and the cost of meeting refreshments. This expenditure cannot be broken down further without looking at individual invoices which would incur disproportionate cost.*The Treasury Solicitor’s Department until 31 March 2015. GLD has increased in size as a result of the merger programme to create a shared legal service for government and expenditure has increased as a result.

Attorney General: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2017 to Question 65676, how much of the procurement spending in each of those years related to the services of management consultants.

Jeremy Wright: Expenditure on management consultants 2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16AGO000000SFO£1,382,460£772,6590000CPS£684,314£13,347£9,793£96000GLD000000HMCPSI000000 The CPS does not separately record expenditure on management consultancy and the amounts in the table above represent expenditure on all consultancy services and may include non-management consultancy services such as IT, legal, HR and project management.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Rory Stewart: DFID spend on hotels, hospitality and transport since 2009/10 is shown in the table below: 2009/10£14,321,4412010/11£9,566,5992011/12£11,300,0242012/13£11,491,6652013/14£11,850,5952014/15£11,107,6502015/16£8,671,557

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government plans to take to promote good nutrition in developing countries (a) before and (b) after the G7 meeting in May 2017.

James Wharton: DFID will co-host a call to action on nutrition with the World Bank in Washington in April and will continue to emphasise the importance of nutrition with our G7 partners. We continue to support a range of nutrition programmes in countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and remain on track to meet the government’s commitment to improve the nutrition of 50 million people by 2020.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of training in supporting children with special needs newly qualified teachers receive.

Nick Gibb: To be awarded qualified teacher status (QTS), all teachers must be able to meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. The standards require teachers to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs (SEN) and must be able to adapt teaching to the needs of all pupils, as well as have an understanding of the factors that can inhibit learning and how to overcome them.The Government, does not prescribe the content or structure of training courses, and does not maintain a record of the hours of training provided to newly qualified teachers by topics. Teacher-training providers and schools are in the best position to judge these in line with the newly qualified teacher’s developmental requirement and local need.To help support schools and teachers identify and participate in the most effective development activities, the Government published a new Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development in July 2016.The standard can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standard-for-teachers-professional-development.

Teachers: Recruitment

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many bursaries and scholarships were provided under the Your Future Their Future campaign for the academic year 2016-17; and what the value was of each of these.

Nick Gibb: Initial Teacher Training (ITT) bursaries of varying amounts are available to eligible trainees depending on the academic year in which they undertake their ITT, the subject in which they are training to teach and their highest relevant academic award. The amounts and eligible subjects change each year based on assessment of need informed by the targets and past performance. Scholarships are awarded to those trainees who have gone through an additional selection procedure over and above that of their chosen ITT provider. These were available in 2016/17 in physics, chemistry, computing and mathematics. Table 1 shows a breakdown of the total number of trainees who have received training bursaries or scholarships in 2016/17, and the total value of these incentives. Table 1: Summary of the number of trainees that received Training Bursaries or scholarships in academic year 2016/17, and the total value of these bursaries and scholarships No of traineesTotal valuesBursaryScholarshipBursaryScholarship16609326£190,582,000£8,725,000 The numbers are based on trainee data supplied by ITT providers, but as the academic year has not yet concluded, it does not take into account trainees that have withdrawn, or deferred. Nor does it take into account reconciliation activity.

Teachers: Recruitment

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from the public purse was spent on the Get Into Teaching campaign in 2015-16.

Nick Gibb: The expenditure for the Get Into Teaching campaign for the financial year 2015-16 is shown in the following table:Financial Years  (1 Apr - 31 Mar)2015-16Total recruitment marketing£7,740,000

Higher Education: Expenditure

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spent on higher education in the 2015-16 financial year.

Joseph Johnson: This information is available in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills Annual Report and Accounts. Relevant disclosures can be found in the notes to the Statement of Parliamentary Supply on page 115 available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016

Overseas Students

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the UK continues to attract international students to study at its universities.

Joseph Johnson: The Government values the significant contribution that international students make to the UK’s universities. We welcome genuine students, and we have no plans to introduce a cap on intake for study. The Government also recognises the benefit that education exports bring to the UK and we want to maximise the opportunities for UK providers in this area. As such, we promote study in the UK through the ‘Britain is GREAT’ marketing campaign and also through the British Council, which promotes UK education in over 100 countries, connecting millions of people with the United Kingdom. The UK continues to punch above its weight in terms of market share of international students, attracting the highest numbers after the USA.

Ministry of Justice

Members: Correspondence

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when she plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley of 15 February 2017 on section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.

Sir Oliver Heald: A reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley of 15 February 2017 was sent on 30 March 2017. The Government has repeatedly made clear that it is committed to commencing section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 and the new offence will come into effect on 3 April 2017.

Legal Aid Scheme: Immigration

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18- years of age and (b) young people aged 18 to 24-years old received legal aid funding for immigration cases in each year since 2009-10.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 and (b) young people aged 18 to 24-years of age (i) applied for legal aid through the Exceptional Case Funding Scheme (ECF) and (ii) were granted ECF in immigration cases in (A) 2013-14, (B) 2014-15 and (C) 2015-16.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 and (b) young people aged 18 to 24-years of age received legal aid funding in each of the last seven years.

Sir Oliver Heald: The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013 was introduced under the Coalition Government and took effect in April 2013. Section 10 of the Act provided for the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, to address those cases which would not ordinarily be eligible for legal aid under the post-LASPO regime, but where an individual’s Convention rights would be breached in the absence of having funded representation. Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration matters, by age of applicant, April 2013 to March 2016FY application receivedUnder 1818-24Apr 2013 - Mar 2014012Apr 2014 - Mar 20151439Apr 2015 - Mar 20161559   Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration matters, which were granted2, by age of applicant, April 2013 to March 2016FY application receivedUnder 1818-24   Apr 2013 - Mar 201400Apr 2014 - Mar 201548Apr 2015 - Mar 20161240 As the ECF scheme has developed, providers have familiarised themselves with the legislative framework, which has also been clarified by various judgements during this time. This has led to an increase in the volume of successful applications. The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on an annual basis which shows uptake broken down by age group including children under 18 and young people. Data covering up to and including the financial year 2015/16 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/533053/legal-aid-statistics-england-and-wales-client-diversity-data.csv. Data covering the following financial year will be published on 30 June 2017. Legal help/controlled legal representation completed matters and civil representation certificates closed1 for immigration matters, by age of applicant, April 2009 to March 2016PeriodUnder 1818-24 Apr 2009 - Mar 201012,18724,366 Apr 2010 - Mar 201113,12923,586 Apr 2011 - Mar 20128,13715,331 Apr 2012 - Mar 20135,17512,268 Apr 2013 - Mar 20144,0509,883 Apr 2014 - Mar 20154,4798,947 Apr 2015 - Mar 20164,8769,508 1Includes some instances where a proportion of the costs are met by the opponent The LASPO Act removed some types of immigration cases from the scope of the legal aid scheme, reflecting the decrease in volumes since its inception in April 2013. Matters closed in the periods shown above will not necessarily have commenced in the same period.Legal help/controlled legal representation completed matters and civil representation certificates closed1 for immigration matters, by age of applicant, April 2009 to March 2016 PeriodUnder 1818-24Unknown Apr 2009 - Mar 201012,18724,3662,955 Apr 2010 - Mar 201113,12923,5861,526 Apr 2011 - Mar 20128,13715,3311,120 Apr 2012 - Mar 20135,17512,2681,110 Apr 2013 - Mar 20144,0509,8831,313 Apr 2014 - Mar 20154,4798,9471,443 Apr 2015 - Mar 20164,8769,5081,552 1Includes some instances where a proportion of the costs are met by the opponent The LASPO Act removed some types of immigration cases from the scope of the legal aid scheme, reflecting the decrease in volumes since its inception in April 2013. Matters closed in the periods shown above will not necessarily have commenced in the same period.

Pregnancy: Discrimination

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many tribunal cases there were related to section 18 of the Equalities Act 2010, workplace pregnancy and maternity discrimination in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Sir Oliver Heald: Information on the number of employment tribunal cases related to section 18 of the Equalities Act 2010, workplace pregnancy and maternity discrimination can be found in the official published statistics at the following link, for the period up to December 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2016 The January to March 2017 figures are not yet available, but will be published on 8 June 2017.

Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Violence

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on domestic violence victims of having to pay a fee to GPs to provide evidence of eligibility to legal aid.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress her Department has made on removing the fee GPs charge for providing a letter of evidence for domestic violence victims to access legal aid since 7 February 2017.

Sir Oliver Heald: As I outlined in my previous answer of 6 March 2017 (65872 and 65873), we will be announcing details of the full extent of our proposals in relation to domestic violence evidence requirements for legal aid in private family law fairly shortly.

Leader of the House

Keith Palmer

Tim Farron: To ask the Leader of the House, whether he will consider honouring PC Keith Palmer with a shield in the Chamber like those which commemorate hon. Members killed in war or by terrorist acts.

Mr David Lidington: The House authorities will consult PC Palmer's family and the Metropolitan Police about the most appropriate form of memorial.The hon. Member may wish to know that PC Palmer’s name has already appeared on the website of the Police Roll of Honour Trust. He will also be remembered permanently at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire where UK Police Memorial provide a lasting tribute to the sacrifices that police officers make.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Cybercrime

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2017 to Question 64527, when the next regular review of all cyber security standards will be conducted.

Matt Hancock: The Government keeps the material relating to cyber security standards for which it is responsible - such as the Cyber Essentials scheme - under regular review and updates it as and when required. For example, following industry and customer feedback, the requirements for the Cyber Essentials scheme were recently updated and can be found at:https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/requirements-it-infrastructure-cyber-essentials-scheme The vast majority of technical standards are owned and driven by industry, for example the ISO 27001 range of standards on cyber security. These standards are usually global in nature, and governments are part of the debate amongst many industry voices when it comes to reviewing and/or amending a given standard.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of civil servants in her Department are (a) under 30 and (b) over 50 years of age.

Matt Hancock: a) 24% of civil servants are aged under 30b) 19% of civil servants are aged over 50, that is aged at least 51. The figures above include permanent and fixed term employees as well as loans/secondments in to the department and employees on paid maternity leave. The data was sampled on 1st February 2017.

Data Protection

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has reached a decision on whether to support the European Commission in the case of La quadrature du Net and Others v Commission T-738/16.

Matt Hancock: The UK Government has formally intervened in the legal challenge to the EU-US Privacy Shield Agreement lodged at the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case of La Quadrature du Net and others v Commission (Case T-738/16). The UK Government will support the Commission in favour of the EU-US Privacy Shield Decision, against the legal challenge.

Business: Data Protection

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of accounting entities in the UK that exchange data with other such entities in other EU countries.

Matt Hancock: Large amounts of data are exchanged between the UK and other EU countries. However, it is currently not possible to measure by entity the exact volume or the origin/destination of the data.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Procurement

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which projects within her Department have been awarded an amber rating by the Infrastructure Projects Authority at the time of the most recent award.

Tom Watson: The Infrastructure and Projects Authority gave the 700 MHz Spectrum Clearance programme an Amber Delivery confidence rating in June 2016. This reflected the fact that the programmme was in the start up phase and that the completion date for the programme had not been confirmed. The programme has now move into the delivery stage. We expect it to be completed by mid 2020 subject to a review in the Autumn. We have invited IPA will review the programme again later this year.

Data Protection: EU Law

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the implications of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S. and Marper vs United Kingdom on the UK's ability to secure a data adequacy agreement with the EU.

Matt Hancock: Our objective is to ensure unhindered data flows between the EU and the UK once the UK leaves the EU. In doing so we will be considering all the available options that will provide legal certainty for businesses and citizens alike.

Telecommunications: Infrastructure

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to incentivise innovation in internet communications infrastructure.

Matt Hancock: The Government is committed to creating a world-leading digital economy with connectivity wherever people live, travel and work. As part of this, we are investing £1.1bn to boost the UK's digital infrastructure and encourage innovation, including £200m to develop ways to accelerate market delivery of new full fibre broadband networks. Alongside the Spring 2017 Budget, we announced our new 5G Strategy setting out steps for the UK to become a world leader in the next wave of mobile technology. The Budget also included up to £16m for leading UK research institutions to cooperate on a cutting edge 5G facility to trial and demonstrate this exciting technology. We have also conducted seven pilot projects to test different approaches to providing superfast broadband in the hardest to reach areas, forging new, innovative partnerships and showing that smaller suppliers can successfully deliver infrastructure. In addition, the government continues to work with industry to identify and reduce barriers to deployment of communications infrastructure and we have made significant progress, such as reducing planning burdens and introducing a new 100% business rates relief for new full fibre infrastructure for five years.

Mobile Phones: Competition

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on competition between mobile providers.

Matt Hancock: The UK’s negotiations for exiting the EU are complex and the Government is focused on securing the right deal for Britain. We continue to engage with businesses and key stakeholders. We will listen to their concerns, aim to limit uncertainty in the transition and ensure our new relationship with the EU works for business and consumers.

Department for Work and Pensions

Pension Protection Fund

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the proposed changes to the Pension Protection Fund's compensation cap extension will be implemented; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: The regulations to implement the increase in the Pension Protection Fund’s compensation cap for long service were laid on 7 March 2017, and subject to Parliamentary approval, will come into force on 6 April 2017.

Personal Independence Payment

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) training and (b) guidance personal independence payment assessors receive in the social model of disability.

Penny Mordaunt: During the assessment the health professional focuses on the functional impairment an individual faces in their environment.

Social Security Benefits: Repayments

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department enforces the repayment of any benefit payment made into an account after the death of the person entitled to that benefit.

Caroline Nokes: The enforcement of repayment of any benefit overpayment can only be made in the civil court, under the provisions of the Social Security and Administration Act 1992. If, following the death of a claimant, monies continued to be paid into their account, there is no statutory right under social security legislation to enforce repayment of those monies. We would try to recover any payments made after death on a voluntary basis but could not enforce recovery against any estate as the monies were not properly due to the deceased and do not therefore form part of the deceased’s estate. There are occasions where the payment continues after death because, for example, a third party has not reported the death to the relevant authorities, including the department. In such circumstances, the department would consider referring any evidence or information it held of possible fraud to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of prosecution. The decision on whether or not to prosecute lies entirely with the Crown Prosecution Service, and any related recovery of monies or confiscation of assets would be made by the court.

Department for Work and Pensions: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Caroline Nokes: There are around 80,000 staff working at DWP across over 900 sites, with many leaders, junior and above, managing staff across a number of sites. The table below provides figures for spend on hotels, hospitality, and transport. For 2015-16, this is an average annual spend of only £102.41 on transport, 4p on hospitality, and £406.77 on hotels per person.  Heading / Financial Year2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16  £££££a)Hotels4,986,7276,022,6467,023,5938,124,0948,695,414b)Hospitality6498684,2204,8263,081d)Transport32,570,47930,555,27333,379,69032,648,39534,539,050 The Department does not separately record amounts spent on food and drink.

Jobcentres: Plaistow

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the closure of Plaistow Jobcentre Plus on people with (a) learning disabilities, (b) autism, (c) sensory impairment and (d) others who find it difficult to travel independently.

Damian Hinds: Throughout the development of the proposals for Plaistow Jobcentre the department has been mindful of the impact on staff and customers as part of its duties under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. Statistical analysis of the potential impact of the proposals on people with the protected characteristics has informed high-level decision-making so far. As we obtain further local, site-specific information we will ensure any issues identified are also taken fully into consideration when the final decisions are made. Existing DWP processes make provision for those unable to travel independently to their designated Jobcentre.

Jobcentres: West Bromwich

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many public access computer terminals there are for searching Universal Jobmatch and applying for universal credit across the Jobcentre Plus network in West Bromwich East constituency.

Damian Hinds: West Bromwich Jobcentre sits in the West Bromwich East constituency. We currently have 21 computer terminals available for customers to use within West Bromwich Jobcentre to search Universal Jobmatch and to apply for universal credit.The 21 computers also allow the Work Coaches to support customers who have limited knowledge of how to use a computer properly, particularly searching for jobs through the daily Job Clubs or one to one support.We offer daily Job Clubs to all age groups, matching customers to vacancies, Apprenticeships and Traineeships and a triage service where employers are on site offering an immediate opportunity for customers to be seen by a variety of employers on the day.Vulnerable customers are also given one to one support when either making new claims or again searching for jobs.We work with a number of partner organisations across the Borough and within the West Bromwich East constituency, such as Sandwell Women’s Enterprise Development Agency who have 11 computers offering CV and Job search support to unemployed customers / constituents.West Bromwich Library has 44 computers for constituent use.Sandwell College have in excess of 260 main terminals and 60 laptops, offering on site or virtual learning from home for all unemployed people and both full and part time students.

Department for Work and Pensions: Maladministration

John Nicolson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been written off by his Department as a result of maladministration in the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The total amount written off by the department for the last five years is available in the public domain via the links below to the Annual Report and Accounts. 2011/12 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214340/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-2012.pdf2012/13 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/264555/dwp-annual-report-accounts-2012-2013.pdf2013/14 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323953/dwp-annual-report-accounts-2013-2014.PDF2014/15 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445950/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015.pdf2015/16 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/534933/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-2016.pdf

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Management Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2017 to Question 65683, how much of that procurement spending in each of those years related to the services of management consultants.

George Eustice: Defra has no figures on spending specifically on the services of management consultants. Spend figures recorded under consultancy also include IT consultancy, technical consultancy, legal and financial advice, and project and programme management. Consultancy spend increased significantly in 2013/14 and 2014/15 as a result of third party support on IT programmes, for example Defra’s Shared Service Centre and CAP Delivery Programme. There are no separate records for management consultancy. CategorySpend by Financial year 2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Consultancy7,370,3974,657,3023,500,29112,283,07720,892,1359,754,717

Department for Communities and Local Government

Leasehold Advisory Service

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to require whoever is Chair of the Leasehold Advisory Service to have no business interests in the leasehold sector.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 23 February 2017



The terms and conditions of appointment confirm that the Chair of the Leasehold Advisory Service must declare any personal or business interests which may, or may be perceived to, influence their judgements in performing their functions. These interests are included in a register of interests maintained by LEASE which the Chair is obliged to keep up to date. Should a particular matter give rise to conflict of interest, the Chair is required to inform the Board in advance and withdraw from discussions or consideration of the matter. With these safeguards in place we do not consider it necessary to require the Chair to have no business interests in the leasehold sector.

Leasehold Advisory Service

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to require at least one member of the Board of the Leasehold Advisory Service to be an independent representative of leaseholders.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 23 February 2017



The main purpose of the Leasehold Advisory Service is to support leaseholders by providing impartial free initial advice. It is desirable for Board members of the Leasehold Advisory Service to have knowledge or experience of the housing sector, particularly issues that affect the residential leasehold sector. However, there is no current or planned requirement for at least one member of the Board of the Leasehold Advisory Service to be an independent representative of leaseholders.

Empty Property: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will provide financial support to bring back into use derelict properties in Easington constituency.

Gavin Barwell: The number of empty homes in England is at its lowest since records began. At May 2010 over 300,000 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months. As of October 2015, the number had fallen to 203,596.Local authorities already have powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. They also have flexibility to impose council tax on empty homes with the power to impose a premium, of up to 50 per cent (on top of the council tax bill), on properties that have been empty for more than two years. We have extended permitted development rights to make it easier to convert property from business to residential to give new life to thousands of empty buildings.The £32 million Estate Regeneration Fund is being distributed to local authorities and housing associations across England to support refurbishment and redevelopment of thousands of homes across 100 housing estates. The funding will be used to speed up schemes in their early stages, improve engagement with residents, address problems that hold up projects and give local authorities access to skills to ensure high-quality regeneration.

Landlords: Regulation

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote responsible letting and (b) deal with rogue landlords.

Gavin Barwell: The Government is committed to building a strong private rented sector, which provides security and stability for both tenants and landlords.To promote responsible lettings, we have issued ‘How to Rent’ guidance on gov.uk and made it a legal requirement, since 1 October 2014, for letting and managing agents in England to belong to one of the three Government approved redress schemes, which offer a clear route for landlords and tenants to pursue complaints. The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2016 a ban on letting agent fees paid by tenants, to improve competition in the private rental market and give renters greater clarity and control over what they will pay. And most recently, the Government announced on 28 March that we will make Client Money Protection mandatory for letting and managing agents that handle client money; this will ensure that every agent is giving tenants and landlords the financial protection that they deserve.The Government is committed to taking action to tackle rogue landlords and agents; the Housing & Planning Act 2016 introduced further powers to help crack down on rogue landlords, including a database of rogue landlords and property agents, banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders, civil penalties of up to £30,000 and extended rent repayment orders.

Starter Home Initiative

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many starter homes were built in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.

Gavin Barwell: Starter homes form an important part of our action to help over 200,000 people become home owners by the end of the Parliament as set out in our Housing White Paper: Fixing Our Broken Housing Market. We have made strong progress developing a framework for starter homes through the Housing and Planning Act 2016; planning reforms; and the £1.2 billion starter homes land fund. We expect the first starter homes to start being built later in 2017.

Newts

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to 2.27 of the Housing White Paper, if he will set out the (a) timeline and (b) process for implementing the new approach to the licensing system for great crested newts; and what additional funding will be available to (i) his Department, (ii) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (iii) Natural England to support that implementation.

Gavin Barwell: The roll-out of the new strategic approach to great crested newt licencing will begin in Kent in 2017-18 and the wider nationwide roll-out to other affected local authority areas will be set up over three years beginning in 2017-18.Within this timescale, Natural England will consider district licences for 150 local authority areas. This will be based on an assessment of the impact of the development plan and evidence on the distribution of the great crested newt across the district. To achieve this, Natural England is currently working with partners including local authorities, developers, land owners, environmental specialists and conservation groups. The new approach needs no amendments to legislation.The Department for Communities and Local Government has identified £90,000 of funding within existing budgets for Natural England to support the implementation of the new strategic approach in Kent. The Department for Communities and Local Government will be identifying funding for the nationwide roll-out of the new approach. On-going funding for the schemes will be covered by developer contributions for using the strategic mitigation.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Pay

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 2.73 of the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body 46th Report, what steps his Department is taking to promote cohesion between Regulars and Reserves as part of the Whole Force approach.

Mark Lancaster: The Services are committed to achieving culture change to break down barriers between Regulars and Reserves and improve cohesion. This is being addressed through a number of programmes.We continue to invest in more integrated training and in equipment for the Reserves. Reserves have access to the same equipment and technology as Regulars across all the Services. Army Reserve Units are now commonly paired with Regular Units and train alongside them using the same modern equipment and, when required, may also deploy with them. The Army also employs individual reservists alongside Regular personnel, for example in intelligence roles. The Maritime and RAF Reserves are most often used to provide individuals and small teams for specific roles. Their training is designed to integrate them with the Regulars.We have streamlined the process for transferring from the Regulars to the Reserves to enable people with key skills to share their knowledge and expertise. We are also actively working to identify any policy or process issues that may hinder the use of reservists and to remove these barriers wherever possible.We have developed a set of indicators of culture change and we have put in place a process through which the Services will assess their progress against these indicators and provide evidence of that progress to senior leadership in the Department. This will allow the Ministry of Defence to identify and share examples of good practice as well as issues to be addressed.These initiatives have begun to have a positive effect. In the 2016 Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey, almost two thirds of Regulars who had served alongside Reservists rated them as professional, with a similar number rating the Reserves' contribution as valuable. This is a firm foundation on which we can build and we are working to do so.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr David Jones: Information on ministerial and senior officials gifts, hospitality and travel will be released as part of regular transparency publications on GOV.UK.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much his Department has spent on (a) hotels, (b) hospitality, (c) food and drink and (d) transport in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade will be releasing its first full year travel and subsistence spend in its Annual Reports and Accounts.

Exports: Licensing

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what guidance is available to businesses on obtaining an export license.

Greg Hands: Guidance on the GOV.UK website covers export controls and export licensing, including which exports are controlled, how to apply for a licence and exporter responsibilities. In addition we run introductory and intermediate training events, up and down the country, on different aspects of exports controls. Exporters may also sign up for regular bulletins on changes in policy and licensing.

Exports: Government Assistance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what support he plans to provide to assist first-time export businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade supports first-time exporters through a variety of tailored services.Our digital platform GREAT.GOV.UK provides businesses access to millions of pounds’ worth of potential overseas business to help them start or continue exporting; and provides a new searchable export directory to match businesses according to the worldwide demand for UK goods and services.UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, helps UK companies of all sizes and in all sectors win, fulfil and get paid for exports. Its regional Export Finance Managers are the first point of contact for guidance for UK exporters, including first time export businesses.

Overseas Trade: India

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to improve bilateral trade with India.

Greg Hands: The Prime Minister’s first bilateral visit beyond Europe was to India. Joined by my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and myself, she led a UK business delegation, to meet with key Indian businesses and senior officials. She met Prime Minister Modi, opened the India-UK Tech Summit, and announced £1.2bn of commercial deals. Both governments committed to building the “closest possible trade and economic relationship”. My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade co-chairs the India/UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee, and established a Joint Working Group to review and strengthen our trading relationship, both now and when we leave the EU. UK Export Finance has considerable appetite to support UK exports to India and welcomes new applications for support.

Department of Health

Health Services: Finance

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the impact assessment on the consultation on the Special Category Mechanism and Financial and Other Support in England of 7 March 2017, by how much he plans to reduce the discretionary budget in Policy Option 1 of that impact assessment; and by what method his Department estimated the £74 million social value of that reduction.

Nicola Blackwood: Under Policy Option 1 outlined in the Impact Assessment, the discretionary budget would be reduced by a total of £18.5 million in the current Spending Review period. Social value is calculated by converting National Health Service funding into units of health called Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). These QALYs are then valued at the Department’s standard value for society’s “willingness to pay” for a QALY. This approach is standard departmental methodology. The overall level of funding for the discretionary scheme will be dependent on the uptake of the Special Category Mechanism.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2017 to Question 63452, on blood: contamination, how many such applications have been received since that date; and how many of those applications have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

Nicola Blackwood: Since 20 February 2017 the scheme has received 15 applications. This is in addition to the 317 applications they received prior to this date. Of these 332 applications in total, 323 have been approved and nine have been declined. All applications are subject to a rigorous review and verification process of the evidence being provided.

Department of Health: Buildings

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what refurbishments have been carried out by (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) 2016-17; what the cost of such refurbishments were; what further such refurbishments are planned; and what the estimated cost is of such planned refurbishments.

Mr Philip Dunne: The attached tables provide the cost of refurbishments carried out by the Department and its non-departmental public bodies in 2015/16 and 2016/17 as well as estimated costs for any currently planned refurbishments. The estimated costs for the Department for 2017/18 are the fit out costs of 39 Victoria Street and the completion of a refurbishment in Wellington House. The fit out of 39 Victoria Street, to make the whole building into usable office space, enables the Department to move from Richmond House to 39 Victoria Street.  



Refurbishment costs
(Word Document, 14.94 KB)

Air Pollution: Greater Manchester

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential link between (a) asthma and (b) asthma hospitalisation rates and air pollution in Greater Manchester in (i) children and (ii) adults.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of air pollution on (a) incidences of asthma and (b) asthma hospitalisation rates for (i) children and (ii) adults living in Greater Manchester in each of the last three years.

Nicola Blackwood: In 2010, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) published a statement on the evidence linking air pollution with asthma. The evidence confirmed that exposure to ambient concentrations of air pollutants is associated with an increase in exacerbations of asthma in those who already have the condition. The evidence for air pollution causing new cases of asthma is less clear. However, COMEAP concluded that it is possible that air pollution plays a part in the induction of asthma in some individuals who live near busy roads, particularly roads carrying high numbers of heavy goods vehicles. No specific assessments of the potential effect of air pollution on incidences of asthma or asthma hospitalisation rates for children or adults living in Greater Manchester have been made. There are no plans for Public Health England to make an assessment of the potential effect of air pollution on incidences of asthma or asthma hospitalisation rates in Greater Manchester.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assurance process has been in place since clinical commissioning groups were established to ensure good governance and probity; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of those arrangements in the Liverpool area.

David Mowat: NHS England has a statutory duty to conduct an annual performance assessment of every clinical commissioning group (CCG). From 2013-16 this was through the CCG assurance framework. From 2016 this was replaced by the CCG improvement and assessment framework. These frameworks assessed whether CCGs had good governance arrangements. Liverpool CCG was rated good in the 2015-16 CCG assurance annual assessment. No probity issues have been raised for Liverpool CCG. It has received unqualified opinions in respect of probity and value for money from its external auditors each year.

Medical Treatments: Finance

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on improving the way that decisions about the funding of treatments are communicated to patient groups and the public.

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask NHS England to make the minutes of the (a) Clinical Priorities Advisory Group and (b) Specialised Services Commissioning Committee publicly available.

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he will take to improve the transparency of decisions made by (a) NHS England, (b) the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group and (c) the Specialised Services Commissioning Committee.

David Mowat: Patients and patient groups are involved at all stages of the decision making process around the funding of specialised treatments. Patients are involved in the policy working groups that develop policy propositions, as well the Clinical Reference Groups and National Programmes of Care board which collectively develop policies and which both have patient and public voice members. The Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG), which makes recommendations around prioritisation, also has an independent lay chair and members. Patients and patient groups can also register as stakeholders and will then be invited to comment on draft policies during stakeholder testing and public consultation. Registered stakeholders are kept informed of progress and are notified when final decisions are made. Patient groups can request a stakeholder surgery with NHS England at any point during the policy development process to raise any issues or concerns they may have. NHS England ensures that all newly adopted clinical commissioning policies and service specifications are published on its website, and simultaneously cascaded via local commissioning teams to relevant providers and clinical teams. This helps to ensure that patients receive up to date advice on the availability and funding of National Health Service specialised treatments pertinent to them during their clinical consultation. While the minutes of CPAG are not published, the key information that it used as the basis of its recommendation made on each clinical policy in 2016 was published when the 22 clinical policies went out to public consultation. The methodology used by CPAG to group the policies into five levels has also been published, as have the final recommendations. The Government has laid out its plans to improve transparency in Specialised Commissioning in its Treasury Minute in response to the 10th Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Session 2016-17, HC397.Details of its response can be found at the following address from page 53:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/565426/57448_Cm_9351_Treasury_Minutes_Accessible.pdf The CPAG is not a decision making body – it makes recommendations to NHS England on clinical priorities. Final decisions are made by the Specialised Services Commissioning Committee and the committee's decisions are reported to the NHS England Board and published as part of the Board Papers.

Furness Hospital

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that there will be no appointments to a single management board prior to any clinical commissioning group mergers until the situation that resulted in commissioning the Kirkup report has been satisfactorily resolved.

David Mowat: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are independent statutory bodies set out in statute, and as such are responsible for recruiting and selecting their leadership team. The appointment of Accountable Officers by CCGs requires authorisation by NHS England. If as suggested the CCGs seek to create a joint management team with a single Accountable Officer shared across two or three CCGs, this will be subject to NHS England's approval. NHS England’s process for such appointments is set out in guidance published in March 2017.There are provisions under section 14G of the NHS Act 2006 (as amended) allowing for mergers of CCGs and there are specific legal factors that NHS England must consider when deciding whether or not to agree the merger.

Dental Services: Patient Choice Schemes

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department gives to dentists on the currency of their NHS Choices profiles.

David Mowat: NHS Digital has been working with NHS England and other partner organisations to improve the information available to the public on dentistry on NHS Choices. The first improvements were made earlier this month. These included action to encourage practices to regularly update their profiles and, in particular, information on whether the practice is taking on new patients, which now has a mandatory 90 day review cycle. If this information is not updated or verified as still correct within a 90 day period, it will be temporarily removed from the site. NHS Digital is developing a guidance document to dentists following these changes. This will be made available by early summer to all dental practices in England holding an National Health Service contract.

Hospital Beds

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital bed days were lost in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) the UK as a result of delays in discharging patients each year from 2010 to 2016.

David Mowat: Data are collected on the total delayed days during each month for all patients delayed throughout the month. The total number of delayed days in each year between 2011/12 (the first full year for which data are available) and 2015/16, for Barnsley, South Yorkshire and England are shown in the table below. As health is a devolved issue, the number of delayed days in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not collected by NHS England.  Total number of delayed days in Barnsley, South Yorkshire and England 2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/16Barnsley Local Authority1,0539921,1041,0601,568South Yorkshire123,24312,46534,52137,36235,959England1,373,3921,380,4751,413,5911,624,9771,809,883 Source: NHS England, Delayed Transfers of Care Data Notes:1South Yorkshire includes Barnsley, Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster Local Authorities.

NHS: Reorganisation

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings he has had with officials of his Department regarding the effect of sustainability and transformation plans in areas with a shortage of doctors in the last 12 months.

David Mowat: Sustainability and Transformation Plans are locally developed plans, and it is expected that individual areas will take account of local circumstances including any workforce shortages.

NHS: Reorganisation

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what criteria his Department is using to assess whether NHS sustainability and transformation plans have been the result of local community consultation.

David Mowat: As set out in the NHS Shared Planning Guidance, published in December 2015, the success of Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) will depend on having an open, engaging, and iterative process that involves patients, carers, citizens, clinicians, local community partners including the independent and voluntary sectors, and local government through health and wellbeing boards. NHS England expects local engagement as part of the STP process, building where appropriate on existing engagement through health and wellbeing boards and other local arrangements. In September 2016 it issued guidance “engaging local people” to support STPs to do this, which can be found here:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/engag-local-people-stps.pdf Where plans propose service changes, formal consultation will commence shortly in line with good practice and legislative requirements.

Hearing Impairment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the NHS is taking to improve the support provided to deaf people; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: In England, clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning the majority of hearing loss services. A small number of specialised services are commissioned nationally by NHS England. In 2015, the Department and NHS England jointly published the Action Plan on Hearing Loss, which sets out the case for action to tackle the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and to address the variation in access and quality of relevant services. The Action Plan sets out key objectives across prevention, early diagnosis, integrated person-centred care, increasing independence and enabling people to partake in everyday activities, including work. To support the Action Plan, NHS England published, in 2016, a Commissioning Framework for Hearing Loss to ensure a more person centred integrated approach to commissioning and to encourage best practice across hearing loss service commissioners. The Department has also commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of hearing loss in adults; this is expected in May 2018.

Orthopaedics: Robotics

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of making available robotic arms on the NHS for people with limb amputations.

David Mowat: We are aware of a number of recent developments regarding robotic arms and prosthetics, however all of these procedures remain at a relatively early stage and more scientific trials would be needed to demonstrate their efficacy and safety before being considered for routine National Health Service use.

Spinal Injuries: Sports

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many spinal injuries there have been related to (a) rugby, (b) football and (c) other sports in each of the last five years.

David Mowat: This information is not collected.

Department of Health: Overseas Aid

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2017 to Question 66933, on Department of Health: overseas aid, when each of those projects listed in that Answer were agreed with the stated recipients; and when each such project commenced.

Nicola Blackwood: The attached table sets out when the Department agreed each of the projects with the stated recipients listed in the answer to Question 66933 and when each project commenced.



PQ69654 attached table
(Word Document, 14.44 KB)

NHS: Reorganisation

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to oral evidence given to the Public Accounts Committee on 27 February 2017, if he will specify the legal status of the new organisations that will be established under NHS England's Sustainability and Transformation Plans; and what duties and powers to plan and provide health services those organisations will have.

David Mowat: Sustainability and Transformation Plans are not statutory organisations; instead they represent local organisations coming together to work collectively. The statutory architecture for health and care remains fully in place, as do the existing accountabilities for Chief Executives and Accountable Officers of National Health Service organisations.

Outpatients: Attendance

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the median waiting time for a first (a) outpatient ophthalmology, (b) paediatric ophthalmology, (c) medical ophthalmology, (d) outpatient optometry and (e) outpatient orthoptic appointment was in 2015-16.

David Mowat: The information requested is in the following table. Median waiting times (days) of first outpatient appointments for treatment specialties ophthalmology, paediatric ophthalmology, medical ophthalmology optometry, and orthoptics in England for 2015-16 Treatment SpecialtyMedian Time Waited (days)Ophthalmology 41Paediatric Ophthalmology 56Medical Ophthalmology 42Optometry 49Orthoptics 40Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS DigitalNotes:The following codes were used to identify treatment specialties:130 - Ophthalmology216 - Paediatric Ophthalmology460 - Medical ophthalmology662 - Optometry655 - Orthoptics

Care Homes

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 29083, how many (a) registered care home and (b) nursing home places there were in (i) 2017, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2015.

David Mowat: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC has provided the following information in the table below. Number of active care homes and number of care home beds  Number of Active Care HomesNumber of Care Home BedsTotal Number of Active Care HomesTotal Number of Care Home BedsDateNursing HomeResidential HomeNursing HomeResidential Home31 March 20154,69812,382224,751239,36317,080464,11431 March 20164,64312,122224,853237,18216,765462,03529 March 20174,50411,890221,188238,76516,394459,953  Notes:- A care home with both service types of ‘care home with nursing’ and ‘care home without nursing’ is classified as a nursing home. A residential home is a ‘care home service without nursing’.- Care home bed numbers can change over time. The data supplied is based on the number of beds at date of data extraction, or date of the location's de-activation if it is no longer active.

NHS: West Midlands

Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England's Delivering the Forward View: NHS Planning Guidance 2016-17 to 2020-21, whether additional funding will be made available to the Birmingham and Solihull Sustainability and Transformation Plan from April 2017.

David Mowat: On 27 February the chief executives of NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) leaders. They stated the upcoming NHS Delivery Plan will outline the steps NHS England and NHS Improvement will take to help ensure all areas have developed credible implementation plans. The additional £325 million announced in the Spring Budget will help the STPs with the strongest projects make real progress in improving care for local communities. This additional resource is solely for use by capital bid projects subject to the usual assurance processes by NHS England and HM Treasury. No decisions have been made regarding the allocation of funds.